The dialogue is Asia’s premier defence summit to discuss critical security challenges in the Asia-Pacific region. — Photo The Straits Times/ANN

SINGAPORE — Forty-seven countries, including 40 minister-level delegates, will attend the 22nd Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD), which takes place at the Shangri-La Hotel from May 30 to June 1.

French President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to deliver this year’s keynote speech on the evening of May 30.

This is the first time a European leader will give the keynote address at the annual security forum, and comes as Singapore and France commemorate 60 years of diplomatic relations.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is also set to make an address. His special address will be on the afternoon of May 31.

The dialogue is organised by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), and is Asia’s premier defence summit to discuss critical security challenges in the Asia-Pacific region.

The 2024 dialogue was attended by representatives from 45 countries, so the 47 in 2025 would mark a broader international showing.

The annual forum, which began in 2002, has provided a “valuable, open and neutral” platform for the exchange of perspectives on defence and security issues and initiatives over the years, the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) said in a statement on the evening of May 29.

The event is typically attended by top defence government representatives from both China and the US, making it a platform for the two superpowers to hold talks to ease friction between them.

In 2024, then US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin met his Chinese counterpart, Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun, for instance.

But such ministerial-level bilateral talks would be missing this year.

China indicated, just a day before the forum kicks off, that it would instead send a People’s Liberation Army National Defence University delegation instead of Admiral Dong.

Mindef did not mention who would lead the Chinese delegation in its statement.

This would be the first time since 2019 that China has not sent its defence minister for the forum, where China’s views on issues such as Taiwan and the South China Sea are closely watched.

The US kept with making high-level representation at the forum by sending a contingent led by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.

He is expected to speak at the dialogue’s first plenary session on May 31.

Hegseth, a former Fox News host and a veteran of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, assumed office in January under the new administration of US President Donald Trump.

His speech at the dialogue will be closely watched as he is expected to articulate the Trump administration’s defence approach for this region.

The first plenary session is titled “United States’ New Ambitions for Indo-Pacific Security”.

A total of seven plenary sessions and three special sessions are planned for the weekend.

IISS had yet to announce the full list of speakers by the time this article was published, but Mindef in its statement said Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing will speak at the seventh plenary session on June 1.

This session’s topic is “Enhancing Security Cooperation for a Stable Asia-Pacific”.

Mindef also said that as a regular feature of the dialogue, Mr Chan will host visiting ministers to roundtable discussions on May 31 and June 1, as well as defence ministers under the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) to breakfast.

Chan will also conduct bilateral meetings with ministers and senior officials from various countries on the sidelines of the SLD, Mindef said.

Separately, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam will host delegates to a dinner at St Regis Singapore on May 31.

Apart from the 40 minister-level delegates, country representatives also include 20 chiefs of defence forces and more than 20 senior defence officials. — THE STRAITS TIMES/ANN